Editing Leviathan:Volume 6 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 4===

Just by using the magic of Feather Fall, one would float lightly towards the ground like a feather.

However, that was only when used by witches. After leveling up repeatedly as a Tyrannos, Hal had even surpassed the power of Level 5 witches.

With Hal as the one using this magic, the rate of descent could be reduced even further.

Falling merely a few centimeters in one minute&mdash;Such a difficult feat was possible.

Virtually stationary in the air, Hal watched the violent clash between two leviathans while holding Hazumi in his arms.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Kushahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Minadzuki cried out shrilly while the giant pteranodon roared.

In the next instant, the two leviathans attacked simultaneously. They discharged scorching breath from their mouths.

However, these attacks did not succeed into coming into contact with the other's body.

Due to the pearly light guarding them&mdash;imperishable protection&mdash;these giant monster breath attacks were kept outside.

"If only I could summon the Crimson Queen at least..."

Seeing both sides well-matched in power, Hal commented quietly.

In that case, he could either overpower the enemy by going two against one or powering up Minadzuki by having her switch to Queen Form. However, this option was not available.

"But Senpai, although winning is impossible if this continues, we won't lose either," pointed out the junior fighting by his side.

Hazumi was experiencing slow free fall together with Hal.

She looked like she was enjoying this stalemate situation a bit.

Despite being a witch, Hazumi had a gentle and honest personality. She probably wanted to minimize harm on both sides.

But in the next instant, the stalemate was broken.

The giant pteranodon used new magic.

"Eh? I remember that's&mdash;"

Seeing the fourteen runes of Ruruk Soun, Hal was surprised.

The fourteen high-level runic symbols were shining over the crest on the giant pteranodon's distinctive head. It signified "armistice." Armistice meant "the lowering of weapons."

Hal recalled seeing this arrangement of runes somewhere before...

Just as Hal was puzzling over it, Hazumi widened her eyes.

"Th-The protection vanished!"

"Seriously..."

The two leviathans, one modern and one ancient, were facing off in the air.

The pearly radiance surrounding their gigantic bodies suddenly disappeared. First was the giant pteranodon's protection followed by Minadzuki's.

Hal remembered.

"It was True Genbu-Ou! That guy used the same kind of magic to seal away the Rune of the Arrow and eliminate the Rune of the Bow!"

"D-Do your best, Minadzuki!"

Watching the battle with Hal, Hazumi cried out.

Next, the emerald serpentine dragon began to call out with a voice as beautiful as a musical instrument.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh&mdash;

It was a song for invoking pseudo-divinity and using the Rune of the Bow. The air suddenly began to flow, swirling around in a vortex of air currents.

The two leviathans were engaged in aerial combat.

The air around them turned into howling wind, then immediately developed into a tornado to swallow the pteranodon.

Unable to resist the storm's mad rotation, the giant pteranodon was at its mercy.

Minadzuki's pseudo-divinity of Wind was imbuing the tornado with powerful strength and sharpness like blades. The raging wind ravaged the giant pteranodon while turning into vacuum blades, slicing the gigantic body all over.

In addition, it was also infused with the Bow's dragonslaying magical power.

The giant pteranodon's blue blood splattered in the air, turning the spinning storm into a light-blue tornado.

It was quite a tragic sight.

However, Hal still could not rejoice even after seeing Minadzuki gain the upper hand.

"She's cautious as always, but..."

It was possible that Minadzuki committed to using a finishing move because she knew the enemy was very strong.

She understood that under the command of the peaceful Hazumi, the situation would get more and more unfavorable as the battle dragged on. However&mdash;

Swallowed by the tornado, even with thousands of lacerations ripped across her body, the pteranodon still refused to fall.

Fifteen runes of Ruruk Soun&mdash;the "shield"&mdash;protected her body, helping her to barely survive Minadzuki's magic attack.

Next, when the raging storm finally ceased, when the killing wind stopped...

All covered in wounds, the giant pteranodon glided unsteadily to show she was still alive and even used magic.

Over the flying winged dragon, seven runes of Ruruk Soun appeared.

The arrangement signified "healing hand." The "serpent" serving King Solomon had all her injuries rapidly healed, restoring her to her original condition.

"It's like with True Genbu-Ou... A leviathan that has awakened goddess power?"

"Senpai! I will have Minadzuki use that once more!"

"No, let's wait first," said Hal to his brave junior.

"I've got a plan. It'll probably be tough on you, but I hope you can have Minadzuki buy us a bit of time. Just stay on the defensive and focus on resisting the enemy's attacks."

"A-Alright!"

Hazumi agreed to Hal's request and clasped her hands together before her chest.

Entering a prayer pose, she wished for her partner to fight vigorously and safely.

Meanwhile, the showdown between giant monsters in the sky was&mdash;

The giant pteranodon finally switched to offense after healing herself. Riding the wind, she swiftly approached Minadzuki and attacked using her four-clawed hind leg.

The serpentine dragon leviathan's body was a beautiful emerald color.

Four scratch wounds were carved on her dragon scales, bleeding four trails of blue blood.

Of course, the battle was not over with this. Minadzuki craned her neck and counterattacked by attempting to bite the enemy.

However, the giant pteranodon rose up swiftly and succeeded in evading.

The pteranodon flew at high speed and attacked Minadzuki again with four claws. Thus, she attacked and evaded repeatedly using this "hit and away" pattern&mdash;

Hal glanced at Minadzuki, whom the tides of battle had turned against, and surveyed their surroundings.

There were five sky islands within the airspace of the battle.

Assuming there were no other enemies apart from the pteranodon, ''that should most likely be over there''. Hal nodded and fired five consecutive shots with the magic gun in his right.

The five magic bullets flew towards different targets&mdash;The five sky islands.

Every island was more than ten kilometers away from Hal and Hazumi who were floating in the air.

Next, Hal closed his eyes.

This was to scout out everything on the ground at each of the five bullet's destinations. This was to confirm what was present and to detect the unorthodoxy.

This was not a feat that a human could accomplish, not even a master-class witch.

However, it was possible for Haruga Haruomi the magic gunner and great sorcerer. As much as he hated to admit it, his magical power had definitely surpassed human limits.

Hal's five magic bullets reached the sky islands and pierced into the ground.

At the same time, he sensed the magical pulsation coming from a temple on a certain island.

"Over there, I see..."

Should he use the magic gun to snipe? No.

Hal shook his head. It was not his style to act like a merciless sniper. More importantly, it would be a poor influence on his assistant and protege.

''Then go with a warning''. There was one magic spell that came in handy in this kind of situation.

"No helping it. I'll try out that arrangement."

"Huh&mdash;?"

Hazumi stared blankly, presumably due to the five runes of Ruruk Soun appearing in front of Hal.

They signified "heat and explosion." Hal's formidable enemy in the past, Pavel Galad, had used this magic before. Hal shot this runic arrangement with his magic gun and the red bullet of light flew forward along with the five runes.

Naturally, the destination was the sky island where Hal had sensed the pulsation of magic.

"S-Senpai! You're able to use the magic of dragonkind too!?"

"Yeah, I can use it as long as it isn't magic that's too difficult," answered Hal with a sigh.

Due to his increase in power as a Tyrannos, Hal was finally able to draw out the wisdom of Ruruk Soun from his "magic wand," the magic gun.

At this time, the runes of "heat and explosion" reached the target sky island.

The five runes caused a violent explosion on the ground.

Like the previous island they had visited, all these sky islands had was a stone temple, but the flames and blast would not affect the interior. Hence, Hal's objective was only to issue a warning.

"Okay..."

Hal summoned magic symbols to his hand again, three this time.

They were runes of Ruruk Soun, signifying "telepathy." Suppose the other party was a sapient lifeform, it would allow them to communicate across barriers of language and race.

After casting this magic on Hazumi and himself, Hal addressed the giant pteranodon that was using "hit and away" tactics to bully Minadzuki, "Help me pass this message to your partner&mdash;Excuse me for making such a cliched threat, but if you don't cease this battle, I won't miss my next shot."

The winged enemy paused so Hal continued.

"I wish to speak with your master and we will be heading to that island now. If you dare escape... I regret I'll have to snipe you in the back. Unless you are an expert highly adept at magic, I don't think you can escape from an attack of the Rune of the Bow, can you?"

He added another threat to prevent the other party from escaping.

When Hal finished, the giant pteranodon suddenly vanished.

The message evidently got through. Obeying the witch with whom she shared a covenant, the ancient leviathan de-materialized.

Next, all Hal had to do was make his way to that sky island&mdash;

Hal shrugged at Hazumi and said, "I had a hunch that her partner definitely was nearby. How should I put it? It's because she acted a bit similar to how Rushalka behaves under Asya's command."

This was intuition honed from his many years of observing his childhood friend cooperating with her partner.

Moreover, he was certain that the giant pteranodon's partner was not King Solomon. Otherwise, she would have been using the Rune of the Ring frequently.

Hal had skillfully resolved the situation and Hazumi looked at him in admiration.

"You are amazing, Senpai... I can't believe you drove away the 'serpent' so easily."

"Not at all. I was just lucky."

This was not modesty. Hal was quite serious.

In the event that their encountered opponent was True Genbu-Ou, this trick would not have worked.

Furthermore, Haruga Haruomi made his living as a treasure hunter. Being praised in an area outside his field of expertise would only make him blush.

That being said, this battle might hold important significance.

Hal glanced at the sky island where he had caused a runic explosion.

There was a witch there who controlled an ancient leviathan. She was probably someone in service of Solomon the great sorcerer&mdash;

Finally a chance to obtain information.

Hal nodded firmly and prepared to meet the witch he had never seen before.